Advice and Transmissions from Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Dear Friends,

We have been very fortunate and grateful to have had Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche with us a few weeks ago. While the events have now passed, we have been left with advice and gifts that will allow the seeds of wisdom and compassion to flourish in our daily lives as we progress on the path to enlightenment together.

Below is a summary of transmissions that Rinpoche offered during the teachings as well as new practice advice tailored for our students.

Please contact us with any questions or needs, and we look forward to practicing with you.

Love,
Your Friends at Shantideva Meditation Center

Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Tibet House - Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab

Practice Advice for Shantideva Meditation Students

This advice was offered not only for practitioners' success in achieving temporal and ultimate happiness, but also as a preliminary to our Center flourishing and benefiting many, many beings in diverse ways.

1) Every morning, recite four malas of the Praise to Shakyamuni Buddha and the Shakyamuni Buddha mantra while looking at the image of the Buddha one-pointedly.

Visualize that loving kindness and compassion in the form of nectar beams come from the Buddha's heart, purifying us along with each and every sentient being.

Note: 1 Praise to Shakyamuni Buddha plus 1 Shakyamuni Buddha mantra = 1 bead of a mala (consisting of 108 beads).

According to Lama Zopa Rinpoche based on the Kangyur, the Buddha's collected teachings, each recitation of a praise and a mantra purifies eight trillion eons of negative karma.

Reciting four malas can take quite a long time, especially at the beginning. Rinpoche advised us not to worry about that and to do our best. It is possible to finish in the evening. It is also possible to do in parts until completion.

We've printed the image and text on 8" x 10" cards now available at our events. Please come by to pick one up!

2) Recite the Verses of the Eight Noble Auspicious Ones

"For the success of the center and your own success, the success of FPMT, and the holy wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, every morning you must recite a short auspicious prayer written by Je Miphampa, a great, great Kagyü lama.

Recite it first thing, then if you can think, as I try to think [that by reciting the prayer may] all the people who do good things for others have success, and may all the people who do bad things change their mind, not harm; then for the success of FPMT, then your success, so the success of the Center, then yourself. That is one thing that is very important for success." - Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Dedicate for the Center and individual people, for America, for all other countries, organizations, and for all suffering beings. It is also possible to dedicate for the success of FPMT activities and His Holiness the Dalai Lama's holy wishes.

3) Rinpoche also advised our Center to host the extensive Medicine Buddha puja called The Wish Granting Sovereign, a ceremony for worshiping the seven sugatas composed by the Great 5th Dalai Lama. He also recommended the Four Mandala Ritual to Cittamani Tara. As the opportunities manifest, we will adapt our pujas to follow Rinpoche's advice.

Summary and Follow-Up of Transmissions

During the teachings, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave several transmissions. This was "his little gift to us," as he shared during the Guru Puja.

At another time, he taught that receiving the transmission of a practice makes it a lot more powerful. These practices indeed connect us to a very rich lineage of highly realized beings who received and transmitted them orally in an unbroken way directly from their originator, usually Shakyamuni Buddha. They are also loaded with the power of the connection with the teacher who transmits them, the faith, respect, and love we have for him, and the blessings we receive in that way.

If you wish to learn more about transmissions, here is an article from Mandala magazine.

Here are the different transmissions that Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered:

1) Confession to the 35 Buddhas (given on Tuesday, August 25)

Practice available from the FPMT Store
Extensive commentary available from the FPMT Store

Short commentary on the benefits of prostrations

2) Shakyamuni Buddha Mantra Name (given on Tuesday, August 25)

Mantra

Written commentary

Audio commentary

3) Praises to the 21 Taras (given on Thursday, August 27)

Practice available from the FPMT Store

Commentary

4) The Great Increasing Jewel, Fathomless Celestial Mansion, Extremely Well Abiding, Secret Holy Mantra (given on Friday, August 28)

Mantra and commentary

5) Verses of the 8 Noble Auspicious Ones (given on Friday, August 28)

Verses and advice about how to recite them.

About Us

Shantideva Meditation Center is dedicated to cultivating wisdom and compassion through the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism within the New York community.

We are affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), which is based on the Gelugpa tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught by Founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe, and Spiritual Director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

For more information, please email Shantideva Meditation or visit our website!